The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-11-28
PLYMOUTH CHURCH SERVICES.
The Rev. O. C. McCulloch Resumes His Duties
After European Vacation.

For the first time since his return from Eu-
rope. the Rev. O. G. McCulloch preached at Ply
mouth Church yesterday morning. Tt was an
occasion signalized by the presence of large
congregation, notwithstanding the exeerable
weather, and by the pastors brief reference to
it as reunion of friends He said there were
no formal relations in that church between pas
tor and members All met on the simplest
basis with a consciousness of duties to each
other and strangers who may come among them.
Every person was engaged in making a record
for all time no matter how humble the work.
This thought he beautifully illustrated by the
rude outlines of fish and stork he saw on a
pillar amid the uncovered ruins of Pompeii.
They had been made by some child nearly 2 900
years ago. One might inquire what signifi-
canoe there was in the rough caricature of a
mischievous boys drawing, but in some ruins
had been found boys slate which
scrawled the Greek, Latin and Oscar languages.
The Oscar had been superseded by the Greek
and Latin. and in the course of centuries clews
to its mysteries were lost until this slate enabled
the fnguists to take up the thread that led to
their revelation.
This the spirit of the pastors preliminary
remarks, while in the sermon proper he taught
the lesson of God making of one blood all the
nations of the earth His thought was from the
Goth verse of the 18th chapter of Acts. which he
termed a beautifed recognition of the inclusive
ness of the Christian religion. The text was an
insight into the cosmopolitan character of Paul,
whose life exempliied the principle that every
man is a debtor to every other man and woman,
and that it should be ones chief duty to seek
pay the service he has rendered.
For six months MIR. McCulloch said he had
been living in another world. of new conditions
and surroundings. He had heard but little of
His time had been devoted to listening. think
ing and comparing old things with the new.
Travel offered the advantage of widening
thought and feeling. It carries one beyond the
small circle of se1f-suffciency. On board ship
he met doctor who had theory that criminals
could be reformed by sending them around the
world. from port to port.
The first thought that inpr essed him abroad
was that God had made of one blood all the ma
tons OF the earth. The differences were arti-
fetal. not natural, but they were divinely APP
pointed IL marking individuality. All the diff
ferences could be traced to one common center.
Everywhere mankind possessed the same
thoughts and feelings through which the same
results were obtained Human nature in POM
pei was the same as it is now. On the ruined
portals of building there ne had read Justice
is bought and sold here" Under this inscrip-
ton some one wrote where is itF I would
like to buy some" Here were tablets urging
the people to vote for this man. as he was the
America The old social problem of the
Romans is what the people have to-day
But of ali the differences that
impressed him most were those of religion which
was TSpEtScdpSO ny Gio Sldoc CiuICHeS
everywhere. In them all he found that neither
the forms of faith or worship had any close
lation to the people. They were matters of ira
ditons and superstitions. and. answering
great needs. left a great void to be filed If
there was anything better in the old world than
the new he had failed to find it. and the Euro
pean religious life was, above ALL in strong con-
trast to the simple Christian spirit in America
He had come back with the feeling that the
kingdom of God can be built in all it's fullness
and glory only on freedom of thought and de-
votion.